The Weekly Focus:
Published by SacLatino Magazine
July 6, 2017 - Volume 1, issue 2
Latinos makeup nearly 30 percent of the Sacramento Region’s Population...! Now that we got that out of the way, we can focus on the critical issues connected to that statistic. Through the Weekly Focus we will bring forth key issues, information, and possible solutions affecting Latinos living in the Sacramento region with emphasis on education, economic development, and political empowerment. We invite you to share this online publication, provide feedback, submit guest articles, but more importantly, to become engaged. Thank you for the opportunity.
Welcome to new Sacramento Unified School District Superintendent Jorge Aguilar
Sacramento City Unified School District’s Board of Education has appointed Mr. Jorge Aguilar as the school district’s new Superintendent. Mr. Aguilar, from Fresno, brings over twenty years of K-12 and higher education experience to the district, with a strong focus and background on issues of equity and student achievement. During his career, Mr. Aguilar taught Spanish at South Gate High School, worked as a legislative fellow in the State Capitol, served as an Associate Vice Chancellor for Educational and Community Partnerships and Special Assistant to the Chancellor at the University of California, Merced. In 2015, Mr. Aguilar’s work earned him an invitation by then First Lady Michelle Obama, to present on education equity and access best practices at an annual White House convening hosted by the National Consortium for School Counseling and Postsecondary Success.
“I want to thank the Sacramento City Unified School District board of trustees and community leaders that I met during this extensive search process,” said Aguilar. “I am deeply inspired by their demonstration of commitment to urgently improve the academic achievement of the Continued on page 4 - “Aguiar”
Sac City College has its first Latino President in 100 yrs! Michael Gutierrez will be the first Latino president in the 100-year history of Sacramento City College. He comes to Sacramento City College from Texas, where he has most recently served as Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Student Success at Eastfield College in the Dallas Community College District. In his 21 years in higher education, the Princeton University graduate has served in a wide array of different areas, including faculty, college administration,!
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Continued on page 4 - “Gutierrez”
Sacramento City Unified Board of Education approves 2017-18 school district budget, faces future budget deficits! District reserves will cover current budget but state-mandated PERS/STRS contribution increases and a $621 million other post-employment benefits (OPEB) unfunded liability will require district to reduce spending in future years! SACRAMENTO, CA – At the June 28th meeting , the Sacramento City Unified Board of Education unanimously approved a $566.99 million budget at a special meeting of the board. While current revenues are sufficient to cover spending for the 2017-18 fiscal year, budget staff warned that spending in future years will need to be reduced in order to avoid fiscal trouble.! “The district is able to cover its expenditures right now because we have reserves,” said Gloria Chung, Director of Budget Services for the Sacramento City Unified School District. “However, the money goes quick. If we do not cut spending for future years, then the fund balance will be gone. We must begin reducing spending in 2018-19 in order to balance our budget.”! A state-mandated increase in the amount school districts have to pay for PERS and STRS contributions is one of the many additional rising costs facing school districts across California. Rising health care costs and other expenditures are also eating up school district funds.! Although Governor Jerry Brown signed a budget earlier this week with more money going to schools, the increased PERS/STRS costs, as well as the rising health care costs and other expenditures, results in less net funding for many school districts. Brown has warned that the next recession is around the corner and districts need to prepare for a slowdown. Districts with significant reductions in their budgets include Oakland Unified, Santa Rosa, Los Angeles Unified, San Diego Unified and Santa Ana.! “While we appreciate the extra money for education allocated by the state, what they gave us on Tuesday they spend for us in debt obligations the very next day,” said Jay Hansen, President of the School Board. “This budget has taken into consideration our rising PERS/STRS costs and we have a plan to pay those down. By
continuing to be fiscally responsible, we keep our district strong for students and the community.”! Click here to view the full budget presentation.
The Sacramento Latino Community Roundtable continues to grow in size and influence! !
Sacramento’s Latino community became fragmented after the passing of Mayor Joe Serna in 1999. Serna was not just a civil rights activist, City Council Member and Mayor, but had been the glue that held the Sacramento Latino community together. Although several Latino community meetings were held to regain the coalitions that Serna had created, none resulted in a sustained effort. Instead, it took a scathing editorial published in the Sacramento Bee that asked, “Where have all the Latinos gone?” in response to the poor Latino voter turnout of the November 2014 election. The article, written by Mariel Garza, a Latina, prompted a number of us to make calls and push for a general meeting where we could begin to plan the future of Sacramento’s Latino community. ! The first meeting, albeit a bit contentious,!
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Continued on page 5 - “Roundtable”
! LATINOS POWER THE U.S. ECONOMY WITH A $2.13 TRILLION GDP ! New Study from The Latino Donor Collaborative Finds the American Hispanic Population Have Seventh Largest Global GDP, Driving U.S. Workforce and Economic Growth LOS ANGELES -- Last week, the Latino Donor Collaborative (LDC) released Latino Gross Domestic Product Report: Quantifying the Impact of American Hispanic Economic Growth, a study that for the first time ever calculates the full Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the American Latino population. At $2.13 trillion, the estimated U.S. Latino GDP is the seventh largest GDP in the world, with American Latinos driving growth of the U.S. workforce and economy. !
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Contrary to political rhetoric and many popular representations of Latinos, the study finds: !
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• Latinos Contribute to the U.S. Economy -- A Lot: At $2.13 trillion, the U.S. Latino GDP is the seventh largest GDP in the world and larger than that of India, Italy, Brazil, or Canada. The Latino GDP would trail only the U.S., China, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France. ! • Latinos are the Major Component of Growth of the U.S. Workforce: While the non-Latino workforce shrank by about 4,000 workers between 2010 and 2015, the Latino workforce grew by nearly 2.5 million, powering an overall increase of 2.4 million in the workforce age 25-64. ! • Latinos Greatly Outperform Expectations in Driving U.S. Economic Growth: At 2.9% the Latino Compound Annual Growth Rate of GDP between 2010 and 2015 (CGAR) was the third highest growth rate at the global level (behind only China and India) of major economies, and nearly 70% higher than the non-Latino US GDP rate of 1.7%. If these rates are sustained, Latinos will contribute nearly one quarter of all U.S. GDP growth between 2019 and 2020. ! • Latinos are Americans: In 2015, a supermajority of all Latinos were U.S. Citizens, either U.S.-born or naturalized citizens. !
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"We are excited to have statistical evidence that proves what Latinos living in the U.S. have always known to be true: we are a hard-working, productive, and essential part of American economic growth and American society," said Ana Valdez, Executive Director of the LDC. "Latinos are America's new mainstream audience and it is our hope that this study will lead business and political leaders to take us seriously and invest in our continued growth." ! - continued - ! Latinos Power the U.S. Economy with A $2.13 Trillion GDP Page 2 ! Latino Donor Collaborative | 310-279-5187 | latinodonorcollaborative.org ! Additional findings include: ! •Latinos Are Graduating from College in Record Numbers: The Latino college graduate population, ages 20–24, grew by 40.6% between 2010 and 2015, compared to 13.6% for the non- Latino college graduate population in! Continued on page 4 - “Latino GDP”
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Gutierrez - Continued research, workforce/economic competitiveness and resource development.! “It is humbling to have the opportunity to serve an academic institution with the storied history and reputation of Sacramento City College,” said Gutierrez. “For a hundred years, Sacramento City College has been a cornerstone of the Sacramento community. As we look ahead, we’ll continue to celebrate the rich fabric of our college and work tirelessly to help our students reach their goals.”!
Aguilar - Continued district’s 43,000 students. The longstanding partnership between the University of California, Merced and Fresno Unified School District has proven that this is possible. I am encouraged to be entering the next phase of this process in partnership with the board.”! As Associate Superintendent for Equity and Access at Fresno Unified School District, Mr. Aguilar established a unique partnership with UC Merced and developed a strong track record of improving student achievement. Among his many accomplishments, he developed a data-based system that identified the academic, social and emotional site practices and district policies that inhibited the realization of student potential, as well as informed administrative decisions about actions needed to reach more equitable educational outcomes. As a result of his work, Fresno Unified saw significant improvement in student achievement including:!
• Raising graduation rates from 69.2 percent to 85.4 percent between the 2009-10 and 2015-16 school years.! • Cutting dropout rates almost in half from 20.1 percent down to 10.6 percent between the 2009-10 and 2015-16 school years.! • Raising the “A-G” completion rates from 25.8 percent in 2008 to 49.02 percent in 2016.! Mr. Aguilar graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in Latin American Studies and Spanish and Portuguese. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and is the recipient of the Winston Doby Impact Award.! Mr. Aguilar is married with four children. He plans on enrolling his children in SCUSD schools.
Latino GDP - Continued the same age group. ! • Latinos Are on the Front Lines, Defending and Supporting the U.S.: Latinos comprise 25.7% of all 18- to 24year-old Marines, and 22.2% of 18- to 24-year-olds in the U.S. Army. ! • Undocumented Latino Immigrants Are a Small, but Essential, Component of the American Economy: Undocumented Latinos are primarily honest, working-age males with very high labor force participation rates. They are critical to the country’s agricultural production, and their contributions Weekly Focus July 6, 2017 - Page 4
directly translate into lower food prices and lower rates of imports. In most of the country, they represent an inconsequential share of the labor force. !
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Commissioned by the LDC, Werner Schink, Co-Founder and CEO of Latino Futures Research and Professor David E. HayesBautista, Distinguished Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, conducted the study. Previously, Schink and Hayes-Bautista collaborated on The Hispanic Portfolio: An Investment Guide to the Future (1983), examining the generational effects of Latino population growth in California, and The Burden of Support: Young Latinos in an Aging Society (Stanford University Press, 1988). !
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To learn more about the study, visit: http:// latinodonorcollaborative.org/ latino-gdp-report/. !
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To download the full study, including appendices, methodology, and references, visit: http:// latinodonorcollaborative.org/ wp-content/uploads/2017/06/ Latino_Report_Economic_Grow th_June_2017.pdf. !
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To join the conversation on social media, follow the LDC on Twitter and Facebook and use the hashtag #USLatinoGDPower.
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County Budget Inadequate for the American Parkway By Phil Serna, County Supervisor Editor’s Note: Reprinted from Supervisor Serna’s blog with permission.! June 14, 2017 - Today was a disappointing day. We, the Board of Supervisors, adopted our Fiscal Year 2017/18 All-Funds Budget, including the County’s General Fund. After lengthy, and at times passionate discussion, as well as multi-media presentations about the social and environmental impacts of illegal camping in the American River Parkway and adjacent neighborhoods, a majority of the Board approved the 2017/18 Regional Parks budget by a vote of 4-1.! County Supervisor Phil Serna
I was the lone dissenting vote as I could not in good conscience support the County CEO’s recommendation for woefully inadequate resource allocation (essentially the status quo) to address illegal camping impacts along the Parkway. It is painfully clear that the status quo is not working and illegal campsites, homemade latrines, wildfires, strewn garbage, off-leash aggressive dogs, assaults, and illegal intravenous drug use continues to proliferate, making the Parkway – especially the lower reach – uninviting and dangerous.! Our budgets reflect our values. Sacramento County’s 2017/18 Regional Parks recommended budget – now adopted – does not represent how I value the Parkway, nor does it reflect how most of my constituents value this incredible regional asset.! The only bright spot I can see from today’s action is that we did provide direction to executive staff to return next month with various recommendations for funding augmentation that might better address public safety and refuse collection in the Parkway. My fear, however, is that these forthcoming recommendations will be presented as exaggerated Sophie’s Choices limiting our ability to explore creative funding sources and/or forcing us to sacrifice other important aspects of county service delivery. We’ll see what happens, especially on July 11 when the Board of Supervisors reconvenes in open session.
Latino Roundtable - Continued! was held in January of 2015, with over 60 attendees representing themselves and varied nonprofits, and yours truly acting as moderator. It was not easy, after a couple of hours we all agreed on two resolutions: 1) To meet on a monthly basis; and, 2) To work on Eric Guerra’s campaign for City Council. ! At its second meeting, the group named itself the Sacramento Latino Community Roundtable (SLCR), a body not owned or governed by any person, group, or entity, with a focus to better the lives of Latinos in the region. Since then, the SLCR has met monthly, helped get Eric Guerra elected, and has collectively written letters to City Hall to ensure inclusion of Latinos in city government and its activities. ! Because of the many leaders and organizations involved, the group also decided early on that the SLCR would be structured as an unincorporated association, governed by guidelines rather than bylaws or Robert’s Rules of Order. With a simple agenda, a two-hour meeting time limit, no membership fees, open to anyone and rotating monthly hosts, the SLCR has attracted the attention of business, political, elected and appointed individuals. Moreover, it has established itself as a key group to engage for public policy development. ! Now in its third year, it’s been my honor to moderate most of these meetings together with past President of the League of Women Voters Lola Acosta. With a fluctuating number of attendees, from 40 to over 90, there is no question that the information shared at these meetings is invaluable, and the resources discovered continue to help the improvement of our Sacramento Latino community in the areas of education, economic development, and political empowerment. Si Se Puede! ! - Adrian Perez, Publisher/Editor! adrianp@saclatino.com
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Regional Transit can be of benefit to Sacramento’s Latino Community! The current Hispanic ridership in Sacramento is 20-25% (Census Bureau + RT data). What this means is that up to a quarter of persons using public transit is of Hispanic decent. But, there are challenges for the Sacramento Hispanic community, especially for those want to use public transit on Franklin Boulevard. There is no service.! Public transit is often a lifeline for areas with high concentrations of minorities and Sacramento should have the ability to better serve these areas. Research shows that public transit delivers greater mobility and greater mobility means a higher quality of life. A well-funded and welldesigned public transit system can empower communities and revitalize local economies. Additionally, transportation funding provides more opportunity and access to residents across the whole region by giving SacRT the ability to provide more coverage and continue to enhance cleanliness and safety efforts.! SacRT’s route structure was designed 30 years ago with a network focused on downtown Sacramento. We at SacLatino support SacRT’s route optimization effort to ensure that the public transit best serves our region and encourage to do the same by attending SacRT Board meetings and sharing your thoughts. With changing travel patterns, housing, business and recreation centers now is the right time to ensure that the routes are meeting the Hispanic community’s needs.
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Editorial Staff Adrian Perez, Editor/Publisher ! John Neri, Associate Editor ! Cecelia Perez, Graphics/Layout ! T.B. Player, Online Distribution/Social Media!
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